CHAPTER XVI. HOW THE BEFORE-MENTIONED MEDALS ARE STRUCK.
Medals are struck in various ways. I will speak first of the method calledconiare[99]a term derived from this particular method of medal stamping, and then I’ll go on to the others of which I have also availed myself.
You make an iron frame[100]about four fingers wide, two fingers thick and half a cubit long, and the open space within it should be exactly the size of the dies (taselli) on which your medals are cut in intaglio. These dies you remember are square, and they have to fit exactly square and equal into the frame so that they may be in no way moved in the striking of the medal. Before beginning the actual thing, it is necessary first to strike a medal of lead of just the size you wish the gold or silver one to be. You do it in the usual way, taking the impression of it in caster’s sand—you remember we spoke about it before—the same that all the founders use for the trappings of horses, mules, and brass work generally. From this pattern medal you make your final casting[101]which you carefully clean up, removing the rough edges[102]with a file, and after that polishing off all the file marks. This done you place the cast medal between your dies (taselli). The medal, in that it is already cast into its shape, is more easily struck, and the dies are for the same reason less used up in the process of striking. When you have them in the middle of your frame, & the frame itself fixed firmly upright, push them down into the frame at one end, leaving a cavity of three fingers’ space from the edge of it. Into this cavity fix two wedges of iron,[103]orbiette, the thin ends of which are at least half the size of the thick ends and which in length are about twice the breadth of the frame. Then when you want to do the striking, set them with their thin ends over your dies, the point of the one set towards the other.[104]Then take two stout hammers, and let your apprentice hold one at the head of one of the wedges, and do you strike with the other hammer the opposite wedge three or four times, very carefully alternating your blows first on one wedge, then on the other. The object of this is as a precaution to prevent the shifting & facilitate the action of your dies[105]or thepieces of metal that are to form your medals. Then take your frame, set the head of one of the wedges on a big stone & strike the other head with a large hammer called in the craftmazzetta, using both your hands.
This you repeat three or four times, turning the frame round at every second stroke. This done, take out your medal. If the medal be of bronze it will have been necessary to soften it first,[106]for that is too hard a metal to strike straight off without heating; and repeat this three or four times until you see that the impression is sharp. True it is I could give you hundreds of little wrinkles yet, but I don’t intend to do it, because I assume I am speaking to those who have some knowledge of the art, and for those who haven’t it would be dreadfully boring to listen. So much for the method of striking medals that we callconiare.[107]
FOOTNOTES:[99]La qual dice coniare,as distinct from the method he describes in Chap. xvii.[100]Staffa.[101]In questo modo ti conviene formarla, egittarla agyrreso.[102]Barette.[103]Coni di ferro.[104]Mettile sopra i tuoi taselli le punte dell’una e dell’altra, le quali si vengano a sopraporre.[105]Ferri.[106]This may mean working the bronze hot, but more probably softening byannealing.[107]The method described may be illustrated by the following diagram:Diagram illustrating theconiareprocess of striking medalsW WEDGED DIEM MEDALFRAME IN PART SECTION.
[99]La qual dice coniare,as distinct from the method he describes in Chap. xvii.
[99]La qual dice coniare,as distinct from the method he describes in Chap. xvii.
[100]Staffa.
[100]Staffa.
[101]In questo modo ti conviene formarla, egittarla agyrreso.
[101]In questo modo ti conviene formarla, egittarla agyrreso.
[102]Barette.
[102]Barette.
[103]Coni di ferro.
[103]Coni di ferro.
[104]Mettile sopra i tuoi taselli le punte dell’una e dell’altra, le quali si vengano a sopraporre.
[104]Mettile sopra i tuoi taselli le punte dell’una e dell’altra, le quali si vengano a sopraporre.
[105]Ferri.
[105]Ferri.
[106]This may mean working the bronze hot, but more probably softening byannealing.
[106]This may mean working the bronze hot, but more probably softening byannealing.
[107]The method described may be illustrated by the following diagram:Diagram illustrating theconiareprocess of striking medalsW WEDGED DIEM MEDALFRAME IN PART SECTION.
[107]The method described may be illustrated by the following diagram:
Diagram illustrating theconiareprocess of striking medalsW WEDGED DIEM MEDALFRAME IN PART SECTION.
Diagram illustrating theconiareprocess of striking medalsW WEDGED DIEM MEDALFRAME IN PART SECTION.